Psych News

Break out your Kleenex and your pineapples - tonight we say goodbye to USA's Psych. And we're doing it the best way possible. Last week BFTV connected with the show's leading lady - and one of our oldest and dearest site friends - Maggie Lawson, to talk about sending off her character Juliet O'Hara and what she's learned from eight seasons of hilarious goodness.

In today's TV landscape, it's uncommon for a show to last this long, let alone for an actor to stay with a series for its entire run. What was it like for Maggie to complete the journey from start to finish? "I feel really lucky th...

Maggie Lawson is now doubly awesome. The Psych star is bringing her charm, talent and beauty to Back In The Game, the new ABC sitcom where she plays former star athlete turned single mom Terry Gannon, Jr. Maggie took some time out on Friday to give BFTV the dish on tonight's new episode and what it's like to feature on two shows, as well as what her role on Back In The Game means for the future of Juliet O'Hara on Psych.

The new job makes her the second USA Network alum to star on two shows in the same season (after Burn Notice star Coby Bell, who also played in BET's The Game), and Maggie...

Mira Sorvino will play a detective on USA's "Psych" during a multi-episode arc in the upcoming eighth season.

Beginning with the seventh episode, the Oscar-winning actress will play the Santa Barbara Police Department's newest lead detective, Betsy Brannigan, which the network describes as "an incredibly sweet, adorably reserved and yet certified badass."

USA continues: "Brannigan's record for taking down ruthless criminals is rivaled only by her skills in sparkly craft making, and her seemingly bubbly demeanor can turn on a dime once she straps in the dual-wielded Colt .45s. She's a scr...

Fans of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries now have a chance to be part of that universe with Welcome to Sanditon, the interactive multiplatform adaptation of Jane Austen's unfinished novel Sanditon. You can create your own character and post video content for everyone to interact with. Making that possible are the folks at Theatrics, who have lent their video storytelling tools to all kinds of projects. To get the lowdown on how this fun technology works, BFTV chatted with Theatrics exec Nick DeMartino, who explained it all to us.

"What's interesting is the platform and the capability of letting a...

USA's Psych is celebrating its 100th episode tonight, and to celebrate, BFTV has some special Psych swag to give away to one lucky Starpulse reader!

One lucky fan who fills out the contest entry form at my website will win a Psych 100th episode T-shirt, as well as a Psych themed iCade for your iPad (iPad not included; see picture below).

All you have to do to enter is fill out the contest entry form. The contest begins today and ends at 5 PM PST next Wednesday, April 3rd. Here's the legal fine print: Contest open to residents of the US/Canada only. Limit one entry per person/email addre...

The seventh-season premiere of USA's hit series Psych is just around the corner on Wednesday, and of course we couldn't let that go by without something special! I've teamed with the folks at USA Network to offer one lucky Starpulse reader a Psych Desk Set that will liven up your workspace with pineapple goodness.

All you have to do to enter is visit my website and tell me why you're the most excited for the return of Psych. Did you stay up for last week's Slumber Party? Are you suddenly more partial to pineapples? Make your case and one lucky fan will be selected after the contest closes ...

We may remember him as the loveable Steve Urkel on the hit TV show, Family Matters, but Jaleel White is ready to show us what he’s got on the dance floor as he attempts to win that coveted mirror ball trophy on this season’s Dancing with the Stars. Partnered up with past winner, Kym Johnson, Jaleel is busy working on his moves in addition to being a father, hosting a new Scyfy game show, Total Blackout, and making a guest appearance on Psych. He took the time out of his busy schedule to talk to Starpulse about how he is juggling his time and even told us his secret weapon he is going to use...

At the beginning of this season of Psych, I chatted with Maggie Lawson -- now, as the show returns, it's time for her partner Timothy Omundson (also known as the infamous Detective Carlton Lassiter) to have his say.

While I enjoy the talents of every member of Psych's fun and funny cast, I have a certain affection for Omundson, who's made Lassiter my favorite disgruntled detective on television. His deadpan delivery and expressions are always spot-on, and he's a great straight man for the oft-hyper antics required of star James Roday.

Everyone loves a hero. They stand up for what’s right, battle the forces of evil, and somehow manage to look sexy in spandex. But sometimes one hero isn’t enough. Sometimes the problem is too great for any one man (or Superman) to handle. Sometimes audiences want to hear a dick-joke while justice is being served. That’s where Dynamic Duos come in. Two heroes, paired together, fighting the good fight and keeping us laughing the whole way through. That’s what audiences love more than anything. To honor the release of Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows, let’s take a look at the best on-screen cr...

Psych goes out to the ballgame this week, and treats us to a fantastic time. The only way this episode could get better is if it had come with a box of Cracker Jack.

Minor league manager Mel Hornsby (the always fantastic Danny Glover) comes to Shawn asking him to look into the death of his hitting coach. To do so, Shawn and Gus join the team - even if Gus has to be the mascot. It's clear pretty early on that the victim was drugged, because Shawn makes the mistake of drinking a water bottle in the dead guy's house and likewise gets high on speed. (And James Roday does a pretty good ...

USA's Psych is on a roll so far in its sixth season. Before tonight's Halloween-themed episode, I sat down with star Maggie Lawson to ask her what else we can look forward to - and the journey her character, Juliet O'Hara, has taken.

You've wrapped shooting season six - so what are you doing with your downtime?

I'm spending a lot of time with my dog. There's some other work and stuff that's out there; hopefully I'll get to do some stuff. Eventually, I'd like that, but honestly right now I'm just chilling and catching up with my family, my friends and my dog. Life is good.

When it comes to this week's Psych, I am of the belief that you cannot go wrong with anything that involves a giant donut. You can, however, go wrong when you drink too much.

Team Psych (and a few other guests) are paying their respects to a retiring cop named Jim at a local bar - never mind that most of them don't even know him. The next morning, Shawn wakes up in a trashed office to find Gus on the floor with no memory of how the evening ended. As if that's not bad enough, Lassiter and Woody are passed out on the office couch, and Lassiter's gun is in the aquarium. Oh, and some...

Steve Franks is awesome. The man who brought us Psych has something to say about everything, and it's always great.

He's the equivalent of one of those kitchen gadgets you see on TV: not only did he create what is now USA network's longest-running original series, but he and his band The Friendly Indians also perform the catchy theme song, and he's given me not one but two can't-miss food recommendations over the years. I wouldn't be surprised if he makes Julienne fries, too.

My colleague Lisa Siegfried talked to Steve recently, and he shared with us his philosophy for Psych's great attit...

Are you ready, Psych-O's?! The new season of Psych begins tonight at 10 PM ET/PT on USA - and I'm kicking things off with some help from stars James Roday and Dule Hill!

I hear you have big things planned for your Halloween episode later this month. What can you tell me?

James Roday: Halloween is the vampire episode. And I think it's airing the week of Halloween. [With] Kristy Swanson, the original Buffy, and Corey Feldman, one of the Frog Brothers from The Lost Boys, and Tom Lenk, a regular on Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series. We went double Buffy.

Labor Day is over, signaling the unofficial end of summer and the start of the new TV season. While television is somewhat entertaining during June, July, and August, it's the fall debuts that many TV addicts anticipate.

Next week the networks start rolling out new and returning series, kicking off with "90210" and "Ringer" on the CW on Tuesday, Sept. 13.

In my years of writing, I've developed a theory when it comes to villains: as long as it takes to develop a good one, it can take no time at all to overuse them. Wisely, Psych has decided to conclude its ongoing Yin/Yang story with this third installment. Yet there's a tall order to fill, considering the two previous episodes have seen both Shawn's mom and his now-girlfriend Juliet in the line of fire. What could top that?

A woman named Allison (Mena Suvari) claims that she was abducted by the mysterious Mr. Yin, bringing back memories for the SBPD crew, and it isn't long before sh...

In tonight's second all-new episode of Psych, Lassiter's younger sister Lauren arrives to film a documentary, which makes everything awkward. As if that wasn't strange enough, the first suspect in their new murder case is a polar bear, which soon gets loose. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the case isn't as open and shut as Lassiter would like to make it; unfortunately, the episode itself isn't that good, either.

There are things which just fall flat as soon as they emerge, whether it's Gus's overly aggressive pursuit of Lassiter's younger sister, or some fail...

Shawn apparently didn't learn anything from his academy crash course last week, because he's gotten the Santa Barbara Police Department in further hot water in Psych's holiday episode. You know what that means - it's the perfect setup for an It's A Wonderful Life scenario that shows Shawn what things would have been like without him (at least how he perceives it), guided by actor Tony Cox (playing himself).

Henry becomes an overweight, pathetic shadow of himself, still pining over Maddie. Gus's new life resembles a bad sitcom (and that's exactly how it's presented). Lassiter is Chief o...

After last week's Twin Peaks tribute, I was ready to get back to regular Psych. The show returns to its standard form with a doozy: Shawn and Gus destroy an SBPD sting operation, and are subsequently banished to the police academy to obtain a professional education.

This puts them at the mercy of Officer Nick Conforth (The Karate Kid's Ralph Macchio), Lassiter's old academy nemesis. It's all fun and games for Shawn and Gus - despite their managing to consistently embarrass themselves - until they motivate Conforth to one-up Lassiter by trying to catch a sought-after robbery suspect....

This week, Shawn and Gus meet up with Satan again in Twin Peaks. Okay, not really, but Ray Wise used to play The Devil on the CW's Reaper, and he joins his Twin Peaks castmates in this reunion episode.

Now, I've never seen an episode of Twin Peaks. Ever. As a result, the burning question for me was, "Am I going to enjoy this episode of Psych even if I know next to nothing about Twin Peaks?" Yes, but not as much as other episodes. I can only attribute this to my lack of familiarity with Twin Peaks, and not ever being particularly taken by the work of David Lynch. (I do have to appreciate...

If one show has impassioned, loyal fans to be reckoned with, it's "Psych."

They call themselves "Psych-Os," and in just a couple of weeks, nearly 30,000 of them have united in an online effort to nab leads James Roday and Dulé Hill a dual hosting gig on NBC's long-running, live sketch show.

The grassroots campaign appeared about a week before the official "Psych" Facebook page cracked the 1 million member milestone on October 20. Dubbed "Psych Out SNL," the movement's own Facebook group states that the writers of USA's quirkily funny police procedural have given the undertaking their o...

What I’ve always loved about Psych is that no one on the show is taking themselves seriously at all. When plugging the latest season on Attack of the Show, Dule Hill (who plays Burton "Gus" Guster on the show, a somewhat sidekick to a fake psychic) referred to episodes as the "Rush Hour episode" or the "Close Encounters episode."

This is a show that fully embraces what it is: one big joke at the expense of everything and anything else. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Now in their fifth season, Psych hasn’t slowed up or worsened yet. With Shawn (James Roday) and Gus still being Shawn ...

"Psych" star James Roday and Executive Producer/Writer Steve Franks promise a "Twin Peaks"-inspired episode of the popular USA comedy. Starpulse just participated in a conference call with them, and they talked about the series' fifth season, which kicks off next week.

"Twin Peaks," which became a national phenomenon in 1990, was director David Lynch's brainchild that blended dark comedy and surreal drama. It focused on the small-town murder of high schooler Laura Palmer, and became known for its quirky humor, atmospheric mystery and critical acclaim. It also starred "Desperate Housewiv...

USA's famous tagline "Characters Welcome" means that it is a channel not only dedicated to entertaining audiences, but that the entertainment might be a little more quirky than most television. This is a welcome change from stations that churn out the same mind numbing procedurals year after year. With Monk, In Plain Sight, Psych, and Burn Notice, they've introduced amusing and memorable characters who come from popular genres (detective, spy, action) with a unique spin.

One of their newest successes is a show titled Royal Pains, a medical show set in the Hamptons that blends a little Hous...

"I don't want to pull the rug out from under our fans every week and slap them in the face with stuff, but this was the season finale, and it was the long-awaited return of Mr. Yang. Yeah, we kind of wanted to load in with as much stuff as we could. That's a fun way to end the season, I think," Psych’s James Roday starts when discussing tonight's finale episode, "Mr. Yin." And for Roday, the airing comes with a lot at stake. Not only is he the star of the show but he directed the noir-style episode, an homage to famed (and one of his favorites) director Alfred Hitchcock, as well.

Since CNN has such a blast creating a report card to track the Presidency, we decided to have some fun with television. Which networks come out strong and which ones need to do better homework?

MAJOR NETWORKS

ABC: B

The Good: The dramas are what keep us coming back to ABC. Grey's Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters, FlashForward, and V are worth looking forward to. The one comedy that stands out and may hold itself against NBC's stellar comedies, Modern Family, is worth a few episodes past the pilot.

The Bad: Dancing With The Stars is extremely popular, however sometimes too much of a ...